Andrey Meshcheryakov (born 20 April 1984 in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

) is a Russian

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

and

wheelchair curler Wheelchair curling is an adaptation of curling for athletes with a disability affecting their lower limbs or gait. Wheelchair curling is governed by the World Curling Federation, and is one of the sports in the Paralympic Games, Winter Paralympic ...

. He has represented Russia at both the IPC World Championships and the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...

. As a curler he was a participant of the

2018 Winter Paralympic games ) , nations = 49 , athletes = 569 , events = 80 in 6 sports , opening = 9 March , closing = 18 March , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Eun-jung Seo Soon-seok , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic ...

and World Wheelchair Curling Championships of 2019, 2020; he is a 2020 World champion.

Personal history

Meshcheryakov was born in 1994. He matriculated to

Moscow State University of Economics, Statistics, and Informatics Moscow State University of Economics, Statistics, and Informatics (MESI) was a university. History Moscow State University of Economics, Statistics and Informatics was founded in 1932 as the Moscow Institute of National Economic Accounting, wh ...

where he studied law. He was severely injured in a car accident resulting in permanent disabilities. He is married to Anastasia and as of 2014 has one child. In 2014 he became the first torch barer when the flame came to his home town of Moscow as part of the

Winter Paralympics The Winter Paralympic Games is an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete in snow and ice sports. The event includes athletes with mobility impairments, amputations, blindness, and cerebral palsy. Th ...

in Sochi.

Swimming career

After his accident Meshcheryakov initially took up table tennis, but switched to swimming as part of his rehabilitation. A water polo player before his injuries, Meshcheryakov showed promise as a parasport swimmer and was coached by Natalia Stepanova. Classified as an S3 swimmer, he competed for Russia at the

2011 IPC Swimming European Championships The 2011 IPC Swimming European Championships was an international swimming competition. It was held in Berlin, Germany from 3 to 10 July. There were 440 swimmers from 36 European countries that took part, Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україн� ...

and won silver in the 50m freestyle behind Ukraine's

Dmytro Vynohradets Dmytro Vynohradets (born 25 May 1985) is a Paralympic swimmer from Ukraine. He competes in S3, SB2 (breaststroke) and SM3 (individual medley) events. Career history Vynohradets competed in the 2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralym ...

. He followed this with a bronze in the 50m backstroke at the same Championship. Two years later he again represented Russia, travelling to Montreal to compete in the

2013 IPC Swimming World Championships The 2013 IPC Swimming World Championships was an international swimming competition, the biggest meet for athletes with a disability since the 2012 Summer Paralympics. It was held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and lasted from 12 to 18 August. Around ...

. There he took three medals, all bronze, in the 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle and 200m freestyle. In 2012 he qualified for his first

Summer Paralympics The Summer Paralympics also known as the Games of the Paralympiad, are an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete. This includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and cerebral ...

, where he entered four events in the London Games. He failed to reach the final in the 100m S4 freestyle, limited by the fact that his S3 classification was not given its own 100m competition. He qualified for the finals in the 50m breaststroke SB2, 150m individual medley SM3 and the 50m backstroke S3 but he was unable to medal.

Curling teams and events

References

External links

* * * Paralympic swimmers for Russia Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Russian male freestyle swimmers Living people 1994 births Medalists at the World Para Swimming Championships Medalists at the World Para Swimming European Championships Russian male curlers Russian wheelchair curlers World wheelchair curling champions Russian curling champions S3-classified para swimmers {{Russia-curling-bio-stub